2015-2016 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Application Thread

[Ismet]

Space reserved for prompt.

Please PM the essays or lack thereof to me when the secondary is available and I will update this.

Good luck to everyone applying!

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[hellanutella]

Stats

• 140 matriculated (~30 of which are HuMed/SciMed students)
• There is no in-state bias. Class breakdown is roughly 30% in-state and 70% out-of-state.
• NOTE: Starting the entering class of 2016 and onwards, half the incoming class will be comprised of FlexMed students

2014-2015 Secondary Application (there is no screen)
*Note: prompt has historically changed from year to year*
1. Please tell us about a passion (professional or personal) you have had thus far in your life. (250 words)
2. Please tell us about a situation in which working with others has been challenging. (200 words)

Important Dates (2014-2015)
First secondary: July 8th, 2014
First interview invite: August 15th, 2014
First acceptance: November 12th, 2014 by email

• This first date has ranged from 10/31 to 11/20 in the last six years according to one analysis
• Some applicants received a message indicating they were still under consideration on the days that other interviewees were accepted, while some students deferred in November were ultimately accepted later in the cycle
• As of May 2015 no applicants have been formally "waitlisted"

First pre-interview rejection: January 9th, 2015

Interview
Two interviews; they may be conducted with a faculty member and student or two faculty interviewers. Both are open file.

Curriculum
Two-year preclinical, pass/fail with no internal ranking.

Update Letter Policy
Updates are accepted post-interview and may be sent to: [email protected]

Notes

• Student housing is offered for all four years in Aron Hall for $650/month.
• On the secondary, there is the option to apply for the PORTAL program, which allows students to obtain a MS in clinical research. 5 PORTAL students are admitted per year.

Not sure how the process may be changing with the new FlexMed influx, but I'm sure current students may know more. Best of luck to you all!

 

[Greenberg702]

Just to chime in, the FlexMed cohort has been delayed somewhat. 51 students were accepted into the first class (with potential 2016 matriculation), and a large proportion is expected to take a gap year. Thus, for this cycle, it is unlikely that FlexMed will have an impact on the regular MD admissions process (apart from the usual ~30 or so). Best of luck to everybody! Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

 

[ChillDawg]

Is student housing separate 'apartments', or with housemates?

 

[Greenberg702]

Is student housing separate 'apartments', or with housemates?

Aron hall consists of 4-6 person "suites". Each person has their own private bedroom with full-size beds. The apartment is divided symmetrically, with the full living room/kitchen separating the two halves. It's very spacious for the UES, located right across the street from the hospital, and is overall an incredible deal at 650/month.

 

[taco152]

Anyone know how flexible they are with what they consider to be writing intensive?

 

[Derikulus]

My # 1 reach school/dream school! Can anyone comment on their preference for those coming from a liberal arts background?

 

[happyasaclam]

Mt. Sinai's website requires a committee letter, but I'm a nontrad 5 years out of school. Did anyone who was accepted or attends here have a similar situation with LORs?

 

[hellanutella]

Mt. Sinai's website requires a committee letter, but I'm a nontrad 5 years out of school. Did anyone who was accepted or attends here have a similar situation with LORs?

Personally, I wouldn't sweat it. My undergrad randomly stopped offering committee letters right before I applied (so some applicants had them and others didn't), but the lack of a committee letter didn't seem to have hurt my app.

 

[happyasaclam]

@hellanutella Thanks!

 

[CyrilFiggis]

My # 1 reach school/dream school! Can anyone comment on their preference for those coming from a liberal arts background?

Look at their HuMed/SciMed/FlexMed programs...

 

[benjamin94559]

Just to chime in, the FlexMed cohort has been delayed somewhat. 51 students were accepted into the first class (with potential 2016 matriculation), and a large proportion is expected to take a gap year. Thus, for this cycle, it is unlikely that FlexMed will have an impact on the regular MD admissions process (apart from the usual ~30 or so). Best of luck to everybody! Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

Seconded. I interviewed for Flexmed last year. While they say they plan on having half the class be flexmed people they are gradually phasing it in so that the first class may only have around 20-30% flexmed (dont quote me on that number). I also believe that a significant amount of people who got in, including one person in my interview cohort, intend on taking gap years. Don't worry about spots being taken from the regular admissions pool by flexmed pool.

 

[chemist_acs]

Does anyone know how strict they are with 6 hours of biology with lab? They don't take AP credits. I have one bio with lab. And second higher level bio without lab. I have a lot of upper level chemistry lab since I'm a chem major

 

[Liz1234]

Good luck everyone!!! I am having trouble understanding this question. can somebody clarify.....Please tell us about a passion (professional or personal) you have had thus far in your life. (250 words)

 

[taco152]

Secondaries are out for this year? If so please post.

 

[simplesloth]

Just got invited to secondary. Confirmed same prompts as last year:

1. Please tell us about a passion (professional or personal) you have had thus far in your life. (250 words)
2. Please tell us about a situation in which working with others has been challenging. (200 words)

 

[semr523]

Just got a secondary. Essays are:

Please tell us about a passion (professional or personal) you have had thus far in your life. (250 words)

Please tell us about a situation in which working with others has been challenging. (200 words)

 

[Oranges2]

Did anyone else apply MD only and get an email that says we invite you to complete our MD/PHD app??!??! so strange... my actual essays are the same as MD only

 

[simplesloth]

Did anyone else apply MD only and get an email that says we invite you to complete our MD/PHD app??!??! so strange... my actual essays are the same as MD only

Yeah I had same thing. I assume it's just a typo.

 

[semr523]

Just got invited to secondary. Confirmed same prompts as last year:

1. Please tell us about a passion (professional or personal) you have had thus far in your life. (250 words)
2. Please tell us about a situation in which working with others has been challenging. (200 words)

Did your email say MD/PhD secondary? Mine did, but I'm applying MD...

 

[Glazedonutlove]

So can we only submit one science and one non science?? so two letters total..?

 

[simplesloth]

Did your email say MD/PhD secondary? Mine did, but I'm applying MD...

Yep it did. I think it's just a mistake

 

[timeflies]

Did anyone else apply MD only and get an email that says we invite you to complete our MD/PHD app??!??! so strange... my actual essays are the same as MD only

Also got this. Seems like it happened to a few peple the 2013-2014 thread, but no mention of it in the 2014-2015 thread. Not quite sure what to make of it. Will send them an email and ask.

 

[Oranges2]

FYI, there are also two other (optional) questions found on the "other info" section:

If you are currently not a full time student, please briefly describe the activities you are participating in this academic year, if it is not listed on your AMCAS application.

If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, and identification with a culture, religion, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine.

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Does anyone know how long these should be? Like a couple sentences or like 3 paragraphs!? maybe ~200 words?

 

[got22]

For the "Referral to Mount Sinai: How did you learn about the program you are applying to?"Is just a sentence or so enough??

 

[simplesloth]

Sinai just sent out a correction regarding the MD/PhD snafu so it was a mistake after all

 

[got22]

Sinai just sent out a correction regarding the MD/PhD snafu so it was a mistake after all

I love how the corrected one says Dear [[FIRSTNAME]] [[LASTNAME]], instead of my actual name now

 

[timeflies]

Strange update:

A few minutes after sending them an inquiry email, I received ANOTHER supplemental invite email that looks like the following:

Dear [[FIRSTNAME]] [[LASTNAME]],

Thank you for initiating your application for The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for the entering class of 2016.

You have been invited to complete the MD supplemental application for admission. To access the supplemental application, you will need to sign into our admissions system following the instructions below:

1. Navigate to: applymd.mssm.edu
2. Username: Same as your AMCAS ID
3. Password: [[PASSWORD]]
4. Click the “Secondary Application” tab

So now I'm thoroughly confused.

 

[wanderyonder]

I'm guessing they just corrected the "MD" part but you should just use the same password provided before.

 

[timeflies]

I love how the corrected one says Dear [[FIRSTNAME]] [[LASTNAME]], instead of my actual name now

Did yours come with a new password? Or are we assuming that the only mistake was the mention of MD/PhD and that our portal is fine?

edit: assuming the portal is fine

 

[got22]

Did yours come with a new password? Or are we assuming that the only mistake was the mention of MD/PhD and that our portal is fine?

edit: assuming the portal is fine

Mine also says [[PASSWORD]] so I'm assuming the same password as before.

 

[justadream]

What's the max # of LoRs?

 

[apillalamarri]

FYI, there are also two other (optional) questions found on the "other info" section:

If you are currently not a full time student, please briefly describe the activities you are participating in this academic year, if it is not listed on your AMCAS application.

If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, and identification with a culture, religion, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine.

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Does anyone know how long these should be? Like a couple sentences or like 3 paragraphs!? maybe ~200 words?

Lol I might just be over-thinking questions at this point, but does the question about not being a full time student refer to people who are taking a gap year? Or am I still not a full-time student if I'm just home for the summer but I'm going to be a senior in the fall?

 

[got22]

Lol I might just be over-thinking questions at this point, but does the question about not being a full time student refer to people who are taking a gap year? Or am I still not a full-time student if I'm just home for the summer but I'm going to be a senior in the fall?

It's referring to people who are taking a gap year, or non-traditional students.

 

[CI45454554]

any thoughts on whether it is okay to use the passion question to talk about something that does not tie into medicine? I was thinking about talking about my passion for drawing and painting but I guess I could also talk about something more standard like volunteering or research bla bla bla

 

[PatrickStarMDPHD]

Does Sinai send out secondaries in batches? I still have not received one.

 

[starlite911]

any thoughts on whether it is okay to use the passion question to talk about something that does not tie into medicine? I was thinking about talking about my passion for drawing and painting but I guess I could also talk about something more standard like volunteering or research bla bla bla

I talked about teaching. I think the passion part is what's important. Just my $0.02 though.

 

[zeppelin1293]

I haven't gotten a secondary either, do you know if they send them out in batches?

 

[OllieO]

Anyone have any thoughts on the "How did you learn about the program you are applying to?" question? Looks like it's unlimited characters, but I'm not sure if they're expecting a whole "Why Mount Sinai" answer or just a sentence or two about how I heard about them.

 

[wagonwheel23]

@OllieO I read it as a sentence or two about how you learned about Mt. Sinai.

 

[wanderyonder]

Anyone have any thoughts on the "How did you learn about the program you are applying to?" question? Looks like it's unlimited characters, but I'm not sure if they're expecting a whole "Why Mount Sinai" answer or just a sentence or two about how I heard about them.

I also read it as the latter. Don't be that gunner kid haha

 

[premeditated618]

I haven't gotten a secondary either, do you know if they send them out in batches?

I still haven't gotten mine and I submitted my AMCAS like the second day. I called mt. sinai and apparently they still haven't received my amcas app which makes no sense because every single one of my other schools has received it!! So they told me to call back in a few days, so frustrating

 

[noflag]

Still haven't gotten mine. Verified on 6/3

 

[PatrickStarMDPHD]

Still haven't gotten mine. Verified on 6/3

Glad I am not the only one. I received some secondaries more than a week after some people, likewise I received some secondaries earlier than some people. They probably send these in batches. Definitely looking forward to receiving this secondary!

 

[PREMEDitated22]

Dreaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam School. Waiting on verification. Good luck everyone!

 

[NJvincanity]

Does anyone know if they accept AP credit for the general chemistry requirement? I took a full year of Orgo w lab and one semester of biochem as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[johnnytest]

Just wanted to pitch in here. I will be matriculating at Sinai this August so I hope to see some of you guys soon

For the "How'd you hear about Sinai?" I just wrote 2-3 sentences. I took a gap year so I just copied and pasted my gap year essay (~250 words) for Sinai.

You'll probably hear this a lot but Sinai has a very welcoming feeling, where everyone is your friend and you're one big happy family. This was my dream/ultimate reach school so I'm thrilled to have gotten accepted. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about my experience so far with Sinai. Good Luck!

 

[PatrickStarMDPHD]

If I have not received the secondary yet, should I contact the admissions office to check if AMCAS transmitted my application, or should I wait it out still?

 

[premeditated618]

If I have not received the secondary yet, should I contact the admissions office to check if AMCAS transmitted my application, or should I wait it out still?

I actually just called because I haven't received mine yet, and they said they just received my AMCAS app and I should be receiving the secondary either today or tomorrow! So you can call to see what's up with your AMCAS app

 

[quicheduty]

Added this school yesterday, secondary received today. That was fast. I agree, maybe call if you haven't received yours yet!